Extending TOD through the interrelationship between transport and land use: A case study of Beijing

Transit-oriented development (TOD) is an effective mode for sustainable land use in megacities. Owing to the diverse geographical, socioeconomic, and cultural landscapes prevailing in distinct nations, the manifestations of TOD can significantly differ, potentially leading to outcomes that do not belong to TOD. In the Chinese context, the implementation of TOD is not synchronized with rapid urbanization. Consequently, several subway stations have been constructed in well-developed areas to meet the large volume of traffic demand, namely development-oriented transit (DOT). Therefore, we propose a novel method to better capture land use patterns around subway stations on a high-resolution spatial scale. The contributions of this study are threefold. First, we enrich the theory pertaining to TOD by incorporating the concepts of sustainable development and the interrelationship between land use and transport. Second, we develop a method utilizing the density gradient of land use and a self-organizing map (SOM) to quantitatively identify TOD and non-TOD. Third, we discuss the development policies for specific types of TOD stations and modes other than TOD. We conduct an empirical study in Beijing using point of interest (POI) data. The results show that 44.9 % of the subway stations exhibit TOD characteristics. Depending on the situations of their respective development, they are categorized into distinct types and only 18 stations (approximately 5 %) have successfully employed TOD. Notably, some subway stations in suburban areas show the significance of residential suburbanization and mixed-use commercial development in TOD implementation. However, approximately half of the subway stations are non-TOD stations. A diversified, flexible, and context-specific planning approach is important in urban development.